# The best classic cocktails of all time

The timeless cocktails every good bartender knows, mostly from the International Bartenders Association's 'Unforgettables' and 'Contemporary Classics', ordered by how often they top best-cocktail lists.

- 257 votes · 26 items
- Jul 29, 2025 · Madison Weaver
- https://even.best/en/l/19/the-best-classic-cocktails-of-all-time

## Top 25

1. **Dry Martini** (23 · ▲23 ▼0) — Gin and dry vermouth stirred and served with an olive or lemon twist.
2. **Old Fashioned** (21 · ▲23 ▼2) — Bourbon or rye with sugar, Angostura bitters and orange peel; for years the world's best-selling classic cocktail.
3. **Negroni** (15 · ▲16 ▼1) — Equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth, born in Florence around 1919 for Count Camillo Negroni.
4. **Tom Collins** (11 · ▲13 ▼2) — Gin, lemon, sugar and soda water in a tall glass.
5. **Aperol Spritz** (10 · ▲12 ▼2) — Aperol, prosecco and soda; the Venetian aperitivo that conquered every terrace.
6. **Daiquiri** (9 · ▲10 ▼1) — White rum, lime and sugar shaken; Hemingway's favourite at El Floridita in Havana.
7. **Margarita** (9 · ▲10 ▼1) — Tequila, triple sec and lime juice in a salt-rimmed glass.
8. **Espresso Martini** (9 · ▲9 ▼0) — Vodka, coffee liqueur and fresh espresso, created by Dick Bradsell in London in the 1980s.
9. **Gimlet** (7 · ▲9 ▼2) — Gin and lime cordial, a sailor's drink against scurvy.
10. **Cosmopolitan** (7 · ▲7 ▼0) — Vodka, triple sec, cranberry and lime; made famous by Sex and the City.
11. **Mojito** (6 · ▲8 ▼2) — Cuban highball of white rum, mint, lime, sugar and soda water.
12. **French 75** (6 · ▲7 ▼1) — Gin, lemon, sugar and champagne, named after a First World War field gun.
13. **Bloody Mary** (5 · ▲7 ▼2) — Vodka, tomato juice, lemon, Worcestershire sauce and spice; the brunch cocktail.
14. **Pisco Sour** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — Pisco, lime, sugar, egg white and Angostura bitters; national drink of Peru and Chile.
15. **Whiskey Sour** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — Whiskey, lemon, sugar and often egg white, shaken to a silky foam.
16. **Sazerac** (4 · ▲8 ▼4) — Rye or cognac, Peychaud's bitters and an absinthe rinse; New Orleans' official cocktail.
17. **Manhattan** (4 · ▲7 ▼3) — Rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters, garnished with a cherry.
18. **Moscow Mule** (4 · ▲6 ▼2) — Vodka, ginger beer and lime served in a copper mug, created in the US in the 1940s.
19. **Last Word** (4 · ▲6 ▼2) — Gin, green Chartreuse, maraschino and lime in equal parts, a Prohibition-era Detroit drink revived in the 2000s.
20. **Piña Colada** (4 · ▲5 ▼1) — Rum, pineapple juice and coconut cream; Puerto Rico's national drink since 1978.
21. **Caipirinha** (4 · ▲5 ▼1) — Brazil's national cocktail: cachaça, muddled lime and sugar.
22. **Paloma** (4 · ▲5 ▼1) — Tequila with grapefruit soda and lime, the most popular tequila cocktail in Mexico.
23. **Boulevardier** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — A Negroni with bourbon instead of gin, from 1920s Paris.
24. **Paper Plane** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino and lemon in equal parts, created by Sam Ross in 2008.
25. **Mai Tai** (0 · ▲2 ▼2) — Rum, orange curaçao, orgeat and lime; the tiki classic of Trader Vic's (1944).
26. **Penicillin** (-1 · ▲4 ▼5) — Blended Scotch, lemon, honey-ginger syrup and a float of Islay whisky, created by Sam Ross in New York in 2005.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.